The present invention relates to liquid dispensers, mainly applicable for the dispensing of carbonated soft drinks, e.g. for homes, offices, restaurants, bars and the like. The major problem encountered in dispensing carbonated beverages, such as Coca Cola (TM) or beer, is the reduction of the CO2 or other gas mixture concentration dissolved therein, which adversely effects its effervescent quality, and therefore the taste of the beverage.
The same problem exists, with the consumption of the contents of a family size bottle in the home, in that if the contents are not consumed in one go, i.e. the bottle is opened and closed several times, the beverage becomes flat and unappetizing.
An attempt to solve this very problem has been disclosed in U.K. Patent Application No. 2 178 001 A (filed Jun. 30, 1986, published Feb. 4, 1987). It relates particularly to bottles made by a stretch-blowmolding process from biaxially orientated polyethylene terephthalate polymeric material (known as "PET" bottles), which are the most widely used type of bottles for soft drinks. Thus, disclosed in that publication was a device, based on mechanically squeezing a consumed bottle between opposite rigid surfaces. Such a device is, of course, only devised for private domestic purposes, that is, for the handling of one bottle at a time, and is generally cumbersome in use.
In yet another relevant U.K. Patent Application No. 2 146 705 A (filed Sept. 21, 1983, published Apr. 24, 1985) there was disclosed a dispensing unit, particularly designed for the supply of fermented beverages such as beer. The unit comprised one or more pressure vessels each having an outlet for communication with a dispensing tap. Each vessel accommodated a flexible bag containing the beverage having gas in solution. The vessels were pressurized through connection by an air compressor in the unit or from an existing fluid line and this pressurization served to ensure dissolution of the gases in the beverage and also to expel the beverage from the bags.
The beverage was normally sealed in the bags prior to loading into the pressure vessels and the pressure of dispensing burst a membrane in the port to permit the flow of beverage from the bag. Alternatively the coupling of the pipe with the port broke the membrane for dispensing. The unit further included a refrigeration system with cooling coils.
The bags, which could be of standard form made of multi-ply metallized plastics, were placed in an upside-down position.
Obviously, the use of these dispensers required special arrangements for the supply of replacement bags and their installation within the pressure vessels, rendering some unsuitable for the public at large.
Larger scale soft drinks supply installations for bars, kiosks and the like, are also known. Such commercially available carbonated beverages dispensers necessarily require the use of a CO2 pressurized reservoir, in the form of a pressurized vessel, which is used either to originally prepare the beverage by admixing syrups, water and the gas--or, in other installations, to keep the dissolved gas concentration up to the desired level.
Such installations involve considerable logistic problems as well as complexity of construction; furthermore, the use of pressurized gas vessels and the need to introduce additional quantities of gas into the liquid, often cause serious problems of foaming during the dispensing of the beverage into cups; the problem of the contents of a single bottle losing its effervescent characteristic by piecemeal consumption remains as yet unsolved.
It is thus the general object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for dispensing PET bottled stored carbonated liquids, mainly soft drinks, such as soda water or Coca Cola (TM), while avoiding the drawbacks of the above mentioned conventional installations.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a dispensing apparatus readily adapted to supply more than one sort or brand of beverages, stored in more than one brand of bottles.
It is a still further object of the invention to simplify the procedure of exchanging exhausted bottles in the apparatus.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide means for automatically connecting individual, exchanged bottles, to the installation without any further ancillary operation.
It is a still further object of the invention that the automatic connection and release of the bottles be achieved by the application of air pressure into the pressure chamber, which pressure must anyhow be supplied to further operate the apparatus.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a plug fitting the mouth of the bottles, so that only bottles originally manufactured by authorized manufacturers will be suitable for use as replacement bottles.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide means for assuring a neat, symmetrical deformation of the bottles in order to facilitate their retrieval out of the pressure chamber, for replacement.